WHAT'S NEW

Rhino 4.0 is the most significant upgrade in the history of Rhino, with hundreds of new features and enhancements.

  - Modeling enhancement include robust variable blend tools, improved Booleans, and G-infinity blending.

  - Editing new features include UDT for free-form deformation of all geometry types, feature recognition for solids editing and history for editing surfaces by changing their input curves.

  - Interface enhancements including SmartTrack technology, heads up prompts, advanced tooltips, and live help with video clips.

  - Display enhancements take advantage of the latest graphic card technology to provide a major speed improvement, custom advanced display modes, new analysis tools, dual-screen support, and stereo.

  - Rendering and animation enhancements including faster basic rendering, advanced texture mapping tools, updated Flamingo and Penguin, Brazil r/s, and new third-party renderers from V-Ray and Maxwell Render.

  - Mesh modeling, editing, analysis, repair, and rapid prototyping. Major enhancements in mesh creation and editing. Also many new tools for STL repair and 3-D printing.

  - 2-D drawing/drafting tools including line styles, line weights, hidden lines, dimensions, hatching, page layout and printing/plotting.

  - Analysis with new tools for both measurement and display. Also enhanced tools detecting problems and evaluating model quality so the problems downstream can be avoided.

  - Large projects support with hierarchical layer management, file locking, and enhanced support for worksessions, blocks, and reference files.

  - Compatibility enhancements including improved PDF, AI 8+, STEP, DWG/DXF, PLY, DGN, FBX, Google Earth, SketchUP, and WAMIT support.

  - Software developer tools for users and third-party developers include an update C++ SDK, a new .NET SDK, and a new rendering SDK (RDK), and a update openNURBS Toolkit.

FEATURES

Uninhibited free-form 3D modeling tools like those found only in products costing 20 to 50 times more. Model any shape you can imagine.

Accuracy needed to design, prototype, engineer, analyse, and manufacture anything from an airplane to jewellery.

Compatibility with all your other design, drafting, CAM, engineering, analysis, rendering, animation, and illustration software.

Read and repair extremely challenging IGES files.

Accessible. So easy to learn and use that you can focus on design and visualisation without being distracted by the software.

Fast, even on an ordinary laptop computer. No special hardware is needed.

Affordable. Ordinary hardware. Short learning. Priced like other Windows software. No maintenance fees.

DETAILS

User Interface
Extremely fast 3 D graphics, unlimited viewports, shaded, working views, perspective working views, coordinate read-out, named views, floating/dockable command area, pop-up recently-used commands, clickable command options, auto-complete command line, customizable pop-up commands, pop-up layer manager, synchronise views, camera-based view manipulation, perspective match image, configurable middle mouse button, customizable icons and user workspace, customizable pop-up toolbar, transparent toolbars, context sensitive right-click menu, dockable dialogs, multiple monitor support, Alt key copy and OpenGL hardware support with anti-aliasing.

User Support and Documentation
Localised interface (user selectable) and documentation directly through McNeel with extensive explorer-like online help, PDF manual, electronic updates, automatic service release availability notification, newsgroup support (24x7), telephone and e-mail support*.

Construction Aids
Unlimited undo and redo, undo and redo multiple, exact numeric input, units including feet and inches and fractions, .x, .y, .z point filters, object snaps with identifying tag, grid snaps, ortho, planar, named construction planes, next and previous construction planes, orient construction plane on curve, layers, layer filtering, groups, background bitmaps, object hide/show, show selected objects, select by layer, select front most, color, object type, last object, and previous selection set, swap hidden objects, object lock/unlock, unlock selected objects, control and edit points on/off, and points off for selected objects.

Create Curves
Point, line, polyline, polyline on mesh, free-form curve, circle, arc, ellipse, rectangle, polygon, helix, spiral, conic, TrueType text, point interpolation, control points (vertices), sketch.

Create Curves from Other Objects
Through points, through polyline, extend, fillet, chamfer, offset, blend, from 2 views, cross section profiles, intersection, contour on NURBS surface or mesh, section on NURBS surface or mesh, border, silhouette, extract isoparm, projection, pullback, sketch, wireframe, detach trim, 2-D drawings with dimensions and text, flatten developable surfaces, extract points.

Edit Curves
Control points, edit points, handlebars, smooth, fair, change degree, add/remove knots, add kinks, rebuild, refit, match, simplify, change weight, make periodic, adjust end bulge, adjust seam, orient to edge, convert to arcs, a ployline, or line segments.

Create Surfaces
From 3 or 4 points, from 3 or 4 curves, from planar curves, from network of curves, rectangle, deformable plane, extrude, ribbon, rule, loft with tangency matching, developable, sweep along a path with edge matching, sweep along two rail curves with edge continuity, revolve, rail revolve, blend, patch, drape, point grid, heightfield, fillet, chamfer, offset, plane through points, TrueType and Unicode (double-byte) text.

Edit Surfaces
Control points, handlebars, change degree, add/remove knots, match, extend, merge, join, untrim, split surface by isoparms, rebuild, shrink, make periodic, Boolean (union, difference, intersection), unroll developable surfaces, array along curve on surface.

Create Solids
Box, sphere, cylinder, tube, pipe, cone, truncated cone, ellipsoid, torus, extrude planar curve, extrude surface, cap planar holes, join surfaces, TrueType text.

Edit Solids
Fillet edges, extract surface, Booleans (union, difference, intersection).

Create Meshes
From NURBS surfaces, from closed polyline, mesh face, plane, box, cylinder, cone, and sphere.

Edit Meshes
Explode, join, weld, unify normals, apply to surface, reduce polygons.

Edit Tools
Cut, copy, paste, delete, delete duplicates, move, rotate, mirror, scale, stretch, align, array, join, trim, split, explode, extend, fillet, chamfer, offset, twist, bend, taper, shear, orient, orient planar object on curve, flow along curve, smooth, project, object properties.

Annotation
Arrows, dots, dimensions (horizontal, vertical, aligned, rotated, radial, diameter, angle), text blocks, leaders, hidden line removal, Unicode (double-byte) support for text, dimensions, and notes. Dimensions in perspective views are supported.

Analysis
Point, length, distance, angle, radius, bounding box, normal direction, area, area centroid, area moments, volume, volume centroid, volume moments, , hydrostatics, surface curvature, geometric continuity, deviation, nearest point, curvature graph on curves and surfaces, naked edges, working surface analysis viewport modes (draft angle, zebra stripe, environment map with surface color blend, show edges, show naked edges, Gaussian curvature, mean curvature, and minimum or maximum radius of curvature).

Rendering
Shade, shade (OpenGL), shade selected objects, raytrace render (with textures, bumps, highlights, transparency, spotlights with hotspot, angle and direction control, point lights, directional lights, rectangular lights, linear lights, and shadows, and customizable resolution), render preview (OpenGL), render preview selected objects, turntable, RIB export, POV export, rendering plug-in support, settings saved in file.

Supported File Formats
DWG/DXF(AutoCAD 200x, 14, 13, and 12 ), SAT (ACIS, export only), DGN, FBX, X_T (Parasolid, export only), 3DS, LWO, STL, SLC, OBJ, AI, RIB, POV, UDO, VRML, BMP, TGA, CSV (export properties and hydrostatics), uncompressed TIFF, STEP, VDA, GHS, GTS, KML, PLY, SketchUP.

IGES (Alias, Ashlar Vellum, AutoFORM, AutoShip, Breault, CADCEUS, CAMSoft, CATIA, Cosmos, Delcam, EdgeCAM, FastSurf, FastSHIP, Integrity Ware, IronCAD, LUSAS, Maya, MAX 3.0, MasterCAM, ME30, Mechanical Desktop, Microstation, NuGraf, OptiCAD, Pro/E, SDRC I-DEAS, Softimage, Solid Edge, SolidWorks, SUM3D, SURFCAM, TeKSoft, Unigraphics), NASA GridTool, Yamaha ESPRi, Tebis.

File Management
Notes, templates, merge files, export selected objects, save small, incremental save, bitmap file preview, Rhino file preview, export with origin point, worksessions, blocks, file compression for meshes and preview image, send file via e-mail.

Plugins
The Rhino SDK exposes most of the internal workings of Rhino, making it possible for third-party developers to create powerful plug-ins and add-ons, programmer's I/O tool kit with source code is available on openNURBS web site.

Scripting
VBScript support exposes most of the internal workings of Rhino, making it possible to develop powerful scripts.

The RhinoScript ActiveX object can be accessed by many different programming languages including Visual Basic, Microsoft Word VBA, and Excel VBA.

Rhino can be run in the background by an application via the RhinoScript ActiveX object.

3D Digitising Support
MicroScribe, FaroArm, and Romer/Cimcore.

Input Devices
Support for SpaceBall and SpaceMouse

* Provided by McNeel